Police round up prostitutes

Mon, 4 March 2013 05:16
by Chief Metro Reporter

members of NamPol went on a rampage rounding up Zimbabwean prostitutes in the city in response to a story that appeared in the Metro section of this newspaper last Monday.
The story involved two male members of NamPol who had sex with a Zimbabwean prostitute, Portia Mpofu, and tried to use their police badges afterwards to get a refund.
The story must have ruffled a few feathers for the boys in blue as they went charging out onto the street rounding up and harassing patrons.
According to one Zimbabwean prostitute, Merriam Maramba, the police operation was bad for business on the day as their normal business routines were interrupted.
“It was bad. They were all over town and they targeted places where we normally hang out and started to load girls onto their vehicles or scare them away from the streets,” she said.
Maramba further said it appeared as if some police officers were given a direct order to only round up Zimbabwean prostitutes.
“They came to us and asked us which country we came from. When you said Zimbabwe, they took us with them. The girls from Zambia were just threatened,” she said.
At the police station, Maramba said, prostitutes were interrogated and the interrogation was, however, in the form harassment and threats.
“They said all kinds of things to the girls and some of my friends who were found inside a club were asked to come out and were interrogated outside. They looked at your make-up and once you admit you are from Zimbabwe, they take you with them to the police station,” she said.
Mpofu echoed Maramba’s claims adding that she feared for her life after exposing the two police men who demanded a refund from her.
“I’m only worried because they know where I live and they might come after me for giving out the story. I heard from my friends what happened on Monday night and I was lucky because I didn’t go out that night,” she said.